Drowning Memories (version 2)
by NatNicole
Summary: Davis has been burdened by the memories and nightmares of his cousin Takuya. But now the dead Kanbara boy is found alive, and he is not alone! Will his friend Sarah reunite her familyand be able to fight the darkness? Will Koichi's struggles come to an end? Will Takuya's return be enough to beat Millenniummon? Read to find out!
1. 25: Discovering another DigiDestined

Here's another fic based on Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories, since I couldn't come up with anything after the first two episodes of Shinya's Adventures. Y'all know if you check her fic which bits belong to her and that the made up Digimon (save for my KuroPatamon) are hers. So don't sue me!

Anyhoo, ya know the drill: I don't own Digimon, and anything that belongs to Shara Raizel obviously isn't mine.

Oh, and by the way, this takes place immediately one day after ep. 24 of Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories.

* * *

**Discovering another DigiDestined**

The three groups of DigiDestined (those with the small pale blue digiivices, those with D3s and those with D3-Ts) were at the lake where Gabumon first became Garurumon. They had gathered there to ponder over why the Dark Ocean was calling to Koichi yesterday.

"All right then," Tai said, clasping his hands behind his head. "What do we do now? We've no clue what or who is after Koichi, and we've found the Spirit partners of the two newest Warrior DigiDestined."

"We should try to find Koichi's," Koji said, deciding to ignore the look of dislike on TK's face when he said that.

"I don't know," Zoe said, frowning. "We're still at a loss as to where we might find the Spirits of Darkness."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Sit here and wait?" Jun asked.

"That definitely isn't an option," Koichi replied. "Not with Millenniummon's return so near."

"C'mon! We've no plan at the moment, so I say we relax a little. Lets worry about what to do some other time," Davis said, leaning against a tree trunk.

"_We can't do that, Davis! What if Millenniummon strikes before we can be prepared?_" Takuya said in Davis' head.

"_I hate this just as much as you do, but we can't do anything at the moment. I mean, seriously, where can we find a place where Darkness is 'absolute'?_"

* * *

Meanwhile, two other humans were walking at a faraway part of the Digital World, accompanied by their Rookie Digimon partners. One was a chocolate brown rabbit with ears as long as his little body and pink on his ears and chest – Lopmon. The other looked like a black and white Patamon with green eyes - KuroPatamon.

One of the two 12-year-olds was a girl with light blue eyes. She was wearing a pink tank top, pale blue jeans, red wristbands and dark pink trainers. Her long light blond hair was tied back by a dark pink ponytail, her bangs covering most of her forehead.

She turned around, holding a hand to the other kid. A gloved hand took it as the girl helped her hazel-eyed friend up on a large green and blue rock. He was dressed in a short-sleeved, unzipped red jacket, a yellow T-shirt with a black symbol beneath the jacket, grey-green gloves, red and yellow trainers, and green-brown cargo pants. Covering his messy, tufty cocoa brown hair was a dark red cap worn backwards.

"Thanks, Sar'," the boy said to his friend as she helped him onto the rock.

"No prob," the girl replied, then they simultaneously jumped down.

They went on exploring the cave they were in. its walls were mostly turquoise from its crystals, and the light of the children's flashlights bounced off the walls.

KuroPatamon, being a lot more easily startled than the laid-back and somewhat calm Lopmon, clung to his partner's cap throughout the exploration.

Sarah, the girl had her partner Lopmon on her shoulder as she jumped down from a rock, her friend Takuya right behind her.

"Man, this cave looked cool at first, but now I'm getting bored," he complained.

"You already said that twice, Takuya," Sarah said, "You're starting to sound like a broken record."

"What are we looking for exactly?" KuroPatamon asked.

"No idea," Lopmon replied. "Sarah?"

The blond sighed. "We're here for clues, remember? About why that temple at Flame Terminal had suddenly collapsed a few weeks ago."

"Oh yeah," Takuya said as he remembered, looking at his partner on his head. "I figured this place, since it's the closest weird place to the temple we found, might have some clue. Exhausted Digimon resting after a tough battle or something."

"I hope we'll find out something soon. This tunnel seems endless," Sarah said, crossing her arms.

"What's that?" Lopmon asked, pointing his small index finger at something straight ahead. It seemed like an eerie greenish glow was coming from ahead.

"Lets check it out!" Takuya broke out to a run, Sarah right behind him.

"What the heck is that?" Takuya exclaimed, holding onto is cap and grabbing his partner before the rising wind could whisk him off.

"I dunno, but it's getting bigger!" Sarah yelled, grasping her partner.

Unknown to them, Azulongmon, one of the four Digimon Sovereigns, was the cause of the vortex. Since he had seen Takuya and Sarah go into the cave, he had decided to use this opportunity to send the two DigiDestineds to the others, as the three active DigiDestined groups would need all their members to beat Millenniummon once and for all.

But Azulongmon didn't account on what happened when the powerful wind threw Takuya and Sarah, along with their partners, into the vortex.

"Takuya!" Sarah screamed, trying to get hold of her friend's outstretched hand.

"Sarah!" Takuya yelled, trying to move towards her while holding into his partner. Their fingers were merely inches away as the two 12-year-olds hit the vortex.

As soon as the two DigiDestineds and Rookies hit it, they and the vortex vanished.

* * *

At the lake on File Island, the two teams suddenly saw what looked like a man and a small Digimon falling into the lake screaming.

The Odaiba and Shibuya DigiDestined stood up, Tai fishing his old mini-telescope from his pocket. "U-oh! I think a human is in the lake! The little Digimon is trying to stop him or her from going under, but isn't having much success. They need help!"

TK and Davis were the first to react. They ran to the edge of the water and jumped in, proceeding to swim to the mysterious human and Digimon.

As soon as they got there, they saw both had already gone under. "Time to dive!" Davis declared, taking a deep breath before going after them. TK followed suit.

Underwater, they saw a blond girl and a Digimon that looked like a chocolate flavored Terriermon. TK wrapped his arms round the girl's middle, while Davis put one arm around the (now) unconscious Digimon.

They both got to the surface, and the Digimon coughed and spluttered before opening his eyes.

"Sarah!" he exclaimed, wriggling free from Davis' hold and splashing over to his partner. She didn't stir.

"Lets take her to the others," TK decided.

Davis nodded, lifting one of Sarah's arms around his shoulders so that she was now between him and his friend. The Digimon perched atop Davis' messy, spiky maroon hair while looking at his partner worriedly.

The two 12-year-olds started swimming. They soon were ashore and settled Sarah onto the few jackets some of the others had spread on the ground.

"What do we do?" 10 years old Tommy asked, and his partner Kawausomon was about to joke but was stopped by Davis' partner Veemon stomping on his tail.

"I think she needs CPR. It'll take too long to get Joe here," Sora said.

"Does anyone know how to do it?" Koji asked, ignoring Jun's partner Namimon and Zoe's partner Vilamon asking what CPR was.

Most of the Odaiba DigiDestined shook their heads and so did the Shibuya DigiDestined. Cody and Tommy hadn't even learnt of it at school yet. Only Sora, Kari and Ken knew how to do it, having been the only ones to actually pay attention when they were taught about it.

"Ken should do it, since he's a guy," Davis said, unintentionally putting pressure on his best friend.

The navy-haired 12-year-old dropped down to his knees beside Sarah's unconscious body. He placed his palms onto Sarah's chest and began the chest compressions while trying to focus on counting instead of the fact that she was a girl. He couldn't stop a very small hint of pink appearing on his cheeks, though. Kawausomon noticed this and made jokes that went unheard by the humans.

When he was done, there was no change in the girl. He hesitated for half a second. Ken _really_ didn't want to do the next part. Sarah was very pretty, but he had a girlfriend – Yolei.

_But if I don't, she'll die,_ he reminded himself.

With renewed courage, Ken tilted Sarah's chin up, pinched her nose, parted her lips and blew into her mouth twice. Nothing. She still wasn't breathing. Ken went back to the compressions, pushing down fifteen times. Again, nothing. Sarah didn't even breathe once. Moving back to her mouth, he repeated the breathes, blowing harder into her mouth than before. Immediately water shot into his mouth and down his throat. Pulling his mouth off of hers, he saw Sarah cough up water.

Sarah coughed again, slowly opening her eyes. As she lifted her head, the first person she saw was Ken, whose face at once went completely pink.

"Sarah!" Lopmon squealed, ramming onto his partner and almost knocking her back down again.

"He-hey! Miss me?" the blond laughed.

She and Ken both stood up, Sarah noticing the people around them. "Huh? Who are you guys? Where am I?"

"You just fell into the lake out of nowhere so TK and I jumped in to save you. We're DigiDestined," Davis replied. "My name's Davis. These two are my partners, Veemon and SilverVeemon. That's Flamemon, my cousin's partner."

"Hello. I am Cody Hida and this is Armadillomon," the 10-year-old brunette said with a polite bow, standing between Tommy and Davis.

"Howdy!" Armadillomon greeted as he raised a paw.

"My name's Tommy and my partner is called Kawausomon," the other young brunette said with a smile and a small bow.

"How's it going?" Kawausomon asked, ding a back-flip.

It went like that for a bit, all of the DigiDestineds introducing themselves and their partners. Tai told about Joe and Mimi, who weren't there at the moment, and Tommy mentioned about his DigiDestined brother Yutaka.

"My name is Koichi. My partners aren't here yet," one of the two identical 12-year-olds finished, "and that's my brother Koji and his partner Strabimon."

"Nice to meet you all," Sarah said with a smile.

"So who are you?" Koji asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Geez, way to be polite, buddy," Strabimon said, making his partner frown at him while the other Digimon giggled.

"I'm Lopmon, and us tow are partners."

"My name is Sarah," the girl introduced herself, looking round at everyone before she turned to the three boys who had saved her. "Thanks for helping me, by the way."

"No problem," Davis said while the other two nodded.

Sarah looked around. "Umm… You guys didn't by any chance see a boy and another little Digimon fall into the lake with us, did you?"

"No, why?" Tai said.

Sarah shrugged, ignoring the question. "Lopmon, I guess that vortex took our friends elsewhere then. I hope they're okay, wherever they are."

To be continued…

* * *

Tommy: Oh man! Freestyle falling sure wasn't fun for Sarah and Takuya. Can the other DigiDestined help Sarah find her friend? To see, check the next episode of Digimon, Digital Monsters!

* * *

To figure what the Spirit Partners' Rookie and In-Training forms look like, check my deviantart profile. I'll post the pics there. FYI., you can read descriptions of them from Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories. This is a continuation of her story, starting from ep.24. Obviously everything from 24 to 1 belong to her, which is why I'm not bothering to copy it and publish here. Wanna see it? Check my faves and you'll find it.

If you're thinking about asking how Takuya can be alive when his soul is in Davis' body and his body has been buried at the memorial in Shibuya, don't ask. Coz I have no idea. So just ignore that, OK? You readers are free to make up possible explanation if you want to, though.

Anyhoo, enjoy the fic!


	2. 26: The return of the first goggle-head

**The return of the first goggle-head**

"AARGH!" Takuya screamed, landing face first into a leafy tree.

KuroPatamon flapped his ears/wings, flying right above the leaves. "Takuya?" he called.

He grinned when he heard his partner's annoyed voice. "Man, I _really_ gotta stop landing on my head! This is getting sooo old!"

KuroPatamon flew down past the leaves and branches, and found his partner laying on a crotch of two thick tree branches. The boy was groaning as he sat up, careful not to fall.

"Uhh… How do I get down without breaking my neck?" Takuya asked, glancing at the long drop down. He hunched over until he was sitting on one of the thick branches, and started climbing down.

Since he was a good climber, it didn't take long for him to reach the lowest branch. He jumped down from it, landing neatly on his feet. KuroPatamon flew down and landed atop his partner's head.

"Huh. Looks like a small forest. Do you know this place, buddy?"

"Nope. Not a clue," KuroPatamon replied.

"I'll walk around then, until we find a gate so we can go home," Takuya decided, clasping his hands behind his head and walking off to a random direction. "I hop Sarah's okay, wherever she is."

"Momentai. She can take care of herself," KuroPatamon said. Takuya laughed.

"You've been around Lopmon way too much, buddy."

After walking for twenty minutes and meeting a few small Digimon, the two friends came to the edge of the forest and a small grassy plain.

When they were almost across the plain, a large electric attack suddenly shot from the sky at them.

"Gah!" Takuya noticed it just in time to dodge it as his Digimon-like instincts, which he had years ago noticed to have, kicked in.

Looking up behind them, he and KuroPatamon saw a giant green bird Digimon, most likely an Ultimate. "Parrotmon," Takuya muttered, although he had no idea how he knew that was the Digimon's name.

"Sonic Destroyer!"

Takuya dodged another deadly attack and jumped another ten feet away as KuroPatamon rose high in the air.

"Boom Bubble!" he yelled, puffing up his chest and releasing a blast of air from his mouth at the Ultimate. It had no effect.

"You will not escape my wrath!" Parrotmon screeched with anger.

Takuya and his partner were surprised at this. They had no idea what Parrotmon wanted with them. The boy kept running and dodging, and a single slam from Parrotmon's claws was enough to send KuroPatamon to the ground, badly hurt. Another attack hit Takuya, leaving him severely injured. His partner tried to attack again, but was sent to the ground right away.

"Get lost! We haven't done anything!" Takuya shouted. "We don't deserve your wrath!"

"Of course you do! The fact that you are the _Warrior of Flame_ is why I seek your death for defeating me!" Parrotmon shouted, and then launched another attack. "Thunder-Bird Claw!"

The slashes of Parrotmon's claw made the boy painfully fall to the ground because of his slow, exhausted reflexes. He had plenty of cuts by now.

"Give me a break already!" Takuya yelled at the attacking Ultimate, who was preparing another Sonic Destroyer. "I'm telling you! I have no connections with this Flame guy!"

"You have a strong connection to the Warrior of Flame because you're him!" Parrotmon said. "SONIC DESTROYER!"

Takuya winced as he managed to get to his feet in time to run away. He saw his partner a good way away, and knew he couldn't reach him in time to make him digivolve. Gritting his teeth to withstand the burning pain, Takuya grunted as he called out to his partner: "KuroPatamon! I don't think I can reach you! Get out of here while you still can!"

"I'm not leaving you!" the Rookie shouted in reply, attacking Parrotmon again.

Hitting the ground near some rocks, KuroPatamon groaned. He saw one of the TV portals on top of the rocks.

KuroPatamon mustered up what little strength he had left and got to the portal. "H-Help. Anyone."

* * *

At File Island, Sarah was explaining to the DigiDestineds that she had been exploring with a friend of hers when they had fallen into a vortex.

"Hmm… what time was it when you were there?" Izzy asked.

"Around half an hour ago," Sarah replied. "Why?"

"You got a theory, Izzy?" Tai asked.

"Yes I do. I believe that vortex is a transporter of sorts," Izzy said, "In other words, it sent Sarah and Lopmon here."

"But what about my friend?" Sarah asked. "He and his partner aren't here."

"They probably got sent elsewhere because they didn't hit the vortex at the exact same time as you and Lopmon," Izzy explained. "Just a theory, of course."

At that moment, all their digivices began to beep "What's this thing doing?" JP asked, holding his blue and yellow D3-T.

"It's a distress signal," Davis told. "A Digimon must be in big trouble somewhere near a Digiport."

"Let me check my computer," Izzy said, opening his laptop.

"That must be the area the signal's coming from!" Tommy said, pointing at one of the tiny white squares on the laptop's screen. It was flashing red.

"Hey, you smudged my screen!" Izzy complained.

"Lets get moving to that place under Tommy's finger print," Davis said. They all hurried to the nearest portal, and went through to the correct location.

* * *

Takuya was laying on the ground by now, his clothes a little tattered and his strength all gone. "No…" he mumbled, "It can't... end… Not like this…"

After another groan of pain, Takuya attempted to get back up. But he couldn't move. He was too hurt, too exhausted. No matter how hard Takuya tried not to, he couldn't help falling unconscious.

Up in the air, Parrotmon cackled. "Looks like the end for you, Warrior of Flame!"

A flash of light lit up the small grassy plain for a brief second as the DigiDestined arrived.

"KuroPatamon!" Sarah and Lopmon exclaimed when they saw their injured little friend laying on the ground a few feet away. They rushed to him and Sarah picked him up like he was a hurt baby.

She looked ahead, her eyes widening with horror. A big Digimon was about to attack Takuya! And he was laying on the ground, completely helpless!

"Guys, that kid over there needs our help!" Tai declared, and all the Digimon rushed forward and attacked Parrotmon.

There were 19 Rookies and one Champion (Kari's partner Gatomon), including Sarah's Lopmon, but they still weren't match against Parrotmon since the gigantic bird kept dodging their weak (in comparison) attacks while attacking them with his Sonic Destroyer. Sarah made Lopmon digivolve to his Champion form, Turuiemon.

"Feeble humans! I won't let you get in the way of my revenge on the Warrior of Flame!" Parrotmon said, swooping past the DigiDestined before circling around.

"How dare you…" Sarah muttered darkly, standing up with KuroPatamon still in her arms. She gave him to Kari and rushed to check on Takuya, accompanied by Koji, Koichi, Tai, Matt, Ken and Davis.

The two teens picked up the injured 12-year-old, getting him on Tai's back. "That kid looks exactly like Takuya," Davis explained to Ken, who had been puzzled by his, Koji and Koichi's reactions when they saw the boy's face.

Sarah had her fists clenched and was gritting her teeth. She marched forward a little. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS?!"

Parrotmon cackled. "I was defeated by the Warrior of Flame thousands of digiyears ago, and was able to hold onto that memory. That's why I decided to have my revenge on the Warrior of Flame when I saw him."

"What?!" the Warriors, save for Jun, exclaimed.

"You… You tried to kill my friend…" Sarah was visibly shaking with fury now. "You mistook my friend for some Warrior and tried to _kill him_! I don't look kindly on big bullies like you!"

Something beneath Sarah's tank top glowed golden.

Turuiemon started glowing with that beautiful colour too, and digivolved. "Turuiemon digivolve to… Antylamon!"

Davis' generation of DigiDestineds gasped, except Ken who had never seen an Antylamon before.

The newly-digivolved Ultimate jumped in the air, getting right in front of Parrotmon. Then he formed his hands into giant axe blades.

"Bunny Blade!" Antylamon thrust on blade on Parrotmon's stomach while cutting the other Ultimate's chest with his other "hand". This left deep cuts into Parrotmon's front.

The bird screamed in pain, but was silenced as Antylamon slashed him in half from the top of his head.

The rabbit-like Ultimate landed neatly on his large feet and his blades became hands again. He looked up and saw Parrotmon evaporate into data.

"You killed him!" Yolei screamed, shocked and angry. Her friends felt pretty much the same, while the Warriors, although shocked, didn't feel at all sorry for Parrotmon. (Not coz they're cold-blooded, but coz they understand better than the Odaiba DigiDestined that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Even the Adventure kids are less understanding in comparison.)

Antylamon dedigivolved all the way to Lopmon and rushed to his partner.

"Momentai, Sarah," he said as soon as he reached her, hugging her leg before climbing onto her head. "Momentai."

"You didn't have to kill him," Sarah said softly.

"I know. Sorry. It was pretty hard to control myself."

"Yeah, I guess. But you'll control yourself next time, right?"

"Of course! Come on, Sar', momentai!"

Sarah chuckled. "Fine, I'll let it go."

She went to the others, who were already looking at her either angrily, unsurely or suspiciously. "Sorry. Lopmon – Antylamon – went a little overboard. We don't usually kill Digimon unless we have to."

"But you did that just now. Lopmon killed Parrotmon," TK said, glaring at the pair.

"Momentai, it was an accident!" Lopmon said, "It's not my fault I couldn't control myself. That was the first time I became an Ultimate and Sarah happened to be angrier than I've ever seen her. The instincts 'go for the kill' just kicked in."

"We're honestly sorry," Sarah said with a slight bow.

"What does 'momentai' mean?" Tommy asked. Lopmon smiled at him, explaining that it meant "take it easy".

Then Sarah took a few steps towards Tai and asked: "How's Takuya?"

"Still out cold," Tai replied, smiling to show that he wasn't mad at Sarah and Lopmon. Unlike most of the Odaiba DigiDestineds, he quite understood (thanks to the SkullGreymon fiasco four years ago) that Sarah hadn't planned for Antylamon to be a killer.

"I think he needs some rest and first aid," Sora said, looking at Sarah with a motherly smile. Her friends were still hostile towards the pair, except for Kari who was looking at KuroPatamon with a sympathetic smile before handing the Rookie to Sarah.

Sarah thanked the Kamiya girl and nodded at Sora, who said to Davis: "Mind opening the gate home?"

"Lets go to our place," Davis' older sister Jun said, "Our parents will be late today."

To be continued…

* * *

JP: Boy, Lopmon did _not _leave a good first impression on the Odaiba DigiDestined. Will he and Sarah be accepted?

* * *

I figure, what with Lopmon and all her forms being beasts, losing control when your partner's in an absolute rage ins't too far-stretched since the Beast Spirits in Frontier were hard to control.


	3. 27: The Warrior of Flame

**The Warrior of Flame**

Half of the DigiDestined landed in Davis' room, in a dogpile as usual. "Everyone? GET OFF!" Davis shouted from the bottom.

"You think we're not right about to?" Yolei snapped.

As soon as the others were off him, Koichi gave Davis a hand. His friend thanked him as everyone got to the door with their partners (save for Koichi who didn't have one). The rest of the DigiDestined came from the portal, and this time Izzy was at the bottom.

Last one to arrive was Tai, who thought he'd better arrive alone since he was carrying unconscious Takuya. The boy was laid down on Davis' bed. Sarah took her friend's cap off while placing the badly beaten Rookie beside his partner.

Koji was frowning, lost in thought. This really makes no sense! How can Takuya be here, right on front of me, when I know he died eight years ago?

Everyone, I think we should leave him 'til he wakes up," Tai said.

So everyone left the room, Matt saying: "Shouldn't we take that guy to a hospital?"

Sarah glared at the older blond. "'That guy' has a name. Takuya. And the last thing he needs is a hospital."

"Why? He's injured," Kari said.

Again, Sarah's expression switched right away. She was now smiling sadly as the DigiDestineds settled down in the Motomiyas' living room. She sat on the floor next to Tommy who was holding Korimon (Kawausomon's In-Training form), Lopmon on her shoulder as usual. "Taky's not exactly fond of hospitals. One day he broke his leg and, at the hospital in Shinjuku, he told me something after waking up. Takuya had a nightmare where a close friend of his – he didn't know the name – was in a coma and dying. Takuya, a few of his friends and the boy's brother were there, and their friend had gotten hurt in an accident at the Shibuya Train Station but somehow they knew their friend was dying because he had sacrificed himself for greater good. Ever since then, me and Takuya never go anywhere near hospitals. I might not have been there when his friend almost died, but I can well imagine what it must've felt like."

Shock was clear on all the Warrior DigiDestineds' (except Jun's) faces as they clutched their In-Training Digimon. Koji and Koichi were pale, at once recognizing and remembering that what Sarah was telling them was the time they had returned from their first trip to the Digital World. The Odaiba DigiDestined noticed Davis' and his friends' shock, and exchanged worried glances.

"Have you two known each other for long?" Tai asked, changing the subject.

"Heck, yeah!" Sarah said, her and Lopmon's faces lighting up. "Taky and I met when we were five. Some biggere kids were picking on him for being better at soccer than them. One was really nasty and actually hit him, but Takuya wouldn't back down from the fight. I jumped in to help out but that didn't turn out too well. Taky pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew so hard the bullies ran away with ear-ache. Heh, it was a funny sight. We've been best friends ever since.

"Really?" Davis asked, Takuya in his head doing the same.

Sarah nodded. "Yup. We've often gotten in and out of trouble together for the past seven years."

"And you're both DigiDestined?" Izzy asked, looking up from his laptop.

"You betcha!" Lopmon answered for his partner. "Sarah and I have been partners ever since I hatched coz I went looking for her. KuroPatamon was less lucky. He and Takuya became partners by accident, because they're friends and had closely bonded when Taky first went to the Digital World."

"Kuro… Patamon?" TK echoed, glancing at his partner on his lap.

"The black and white fur ball," Sarah explained. "Do you guys know Takuya?"

The Warriors looked at each other, Koji mentally asking: "_Takuya? You still with Davis?_"

"_I'm here,_" came the reply. "_But I feel like I'm fading_."

"_What?!_" Davis exclaimed mentally, about to panic.

"_No worries, cuz. This doesn't feel bad. More like… I dunno. Right. Yeah, lets go with that._"

"_You sure?_"

"_Positive._"

"_So should we tell that girl there are two of you?_" Koji asked.

Takuya considered for a moment. "_Nah, she'll think you guys are nuts. Just say you met me in Shibuya once. It's not a lie._"

"Hello? Anyone home?" Sarah's voice broke the mental conversation, and the two boys blinked. They almost jumped a little when they saw she was now standing right in front of them, waving a hand to their faces.

"Do you mind?" Koji said with his usual scowl.

"Hmph! No-one answered my question while you and goggle-head spaced out. Mind answering, bandanna-boy?"

"Don't call me that," Koji snapped, making Takuya snicker in Davis' mind. It was the same nickname Takuya had a few times called him, resulting in Koji chasing his best friend while their friends would laugh in amusement.

"Right, bandanna-boy. So how do you all know Takuya?" Sarah asked with an amused grin, irritating Koji even more.

"These guys met him in Shibuya once," Davis said, gesturing to the Warriors. "Jun and I are his cousins."

"Cool. Taky never mentioned any cousins, but it's great to meet you, all the same, goggle-head."

Davis frowned while Koichi, Yolei and JP chuckled softly.

"What's with the nicknames?" TK asked.

"Nothing really. I just couldn't help noticing the bandanna and the goggles, hat-boy." Now it was TK's turn to be irritated while his friends snickered. Noticing Koji glaring at her, Sarah said: "Fine. Koji, Davis and TK."

"Hey, you guys! Wanna play?" Lopmon asked the In-Training Digimon and his fellow Rookie (Patamon).

"You bet!" DemiVeemon said at once, and the others' happy exclamations confirmed that they wanted to play too. Upamon even started bouncing around, making Flaremon, who was stuck as mute until he got the other half of his data from Agunimon, laugh silently.

While the cute little Digimon were running around the apartment, the DigiDestineds went on chatting. Cody messaged Joe after getting Sarah's consolation to do so, and telling his friend to come over and check up on Takuya. It wasn't long before the doctor DigiDestined arrived, doing his best to bandage the injured boy without waking him or his partner. Jun helped Joe, and the two joined the others in the living room.

Suddenly Davis frowned. He was starting to feel depressed again as flashes of Takuya's memories pounded on the inside of his skull, for no reason that he could think of. He had felt this before, when his cousin's memories leaked out into the open for him to see back when he went to the Flame Terminal for the first time a few weeks ago. The familiar whispers of voices were coming to his ears again.

"Davis?" Koji called out, but his fellow Warrior didn't respond. He couldn't. "Davis, what's the problem?"

Davis closed his eyes tightly and clutched his head as the whisperings grew louder.

_Flame Terminal…_

_Trailmon…_

_Train station…_

_Shibuya train station…_

_Ruins…_

_Collapsing ceiling…_

_Digimon train station…_

_A Digimon is destroying the train station…_

_Have to stop it…_

_Can't stop it…_

_All those people…_

_Gonna die…_

_Shinya!_

_Takuya, stop it!_

_Davis…_

_Takuya don't!_

_Jun…_

_Takuya!_

_I'm going to die…_

_TAKUYA!_

…_I'm … dying…_

_TAKUYA!_

…

_TAKUYA!_

…

…_!_

…

… _Davis_

Davis gasped and shook his head. He realized that he was crouched on the ground with everyone gathered around him. Tai and Joe were trying to quiet them all down.

"Davis!" Ken called to him softly on his right. "Can you hear me?"

"…Yes," Davis sighed, the sound of his voice silencing everyone else.

"Davis! Are you all right?" Zoe asked as her friend slowly stood up.

"Talk about déjà vu," TK remarked. "Why'd you wig out on us again? We're nowhere near Flame Terminal. We're not even in the Digital World."

"I… I don't know," Davis replied with a shrug. "_Takuya, what was up with that? … Hello-o? … Takuya? Can you hear me?_" No mental answer came. Shrugging it off, Davis didn't notice that he felt a little bit different.

"Davis?" Joe asked, looking at the younger boy with concern.

"I'm fine. It's not my fault freaking out seems to be my new hobby. So, Sarah, where do you live?"

Accepting the change of subject but still remaining by his best friend's side, Ken said: "Didn't you say something about Shinjuku?"

"Yeah. Takuya and I live there, in the same neighborhood. The parks are great. Plenty of room for Lopmon and KuroPatamon to 'go crazy' as Taky puts is."

"Momentai! We don't go crazy! We just like to run and play all over the place," Lopmon said in his usual laid-back way, hopping onto his partner's shoulder before darting off again.

"Same here," SilverDemiVeemon said from Davis' shoulder, where he had climbed. His blue counterpart was on their partner's other shoulder, while the rest of the In-Training Digimon were still playing.

"I wonder when those two will wak–" Jun began, but got interrupted by a shout.

"Spirit!" Everyone glanced at each other, Zoe and Davis thinking it sounded like Takuya. Their thoughts were confirmed when another shout came from Davis' room: "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"

The DigiDestineds rushed into Davis' bedroom, Sarah in the lead with Davis and Koji. They saw KuroPatamon wide awake and watching his partner with great worry. Takuya was lying on the bed with the sheets tangled. But that wasn't what disturbed them.

Takuya's eyes were wide open, but their hazel colour was murky and it seemed like the boy was in a trance. He was saying strange things, and at first no-one realised he was reliving random moments from his life. At the moment he was arguing with Zoe over which road to take to the Forest Terminal.

Takuya started grunting and groaning in pain as the memory of how he got his Beast Spirit came into his mind.

"What's going on?" KuroPatamon asked, scared for his partner. He rose in the air as the Warrior of Flame was now trashing about. Then he saw a few tears of shame and fear roll down Takuya's cheek before the boy's expression changed along with the memory he was reliving.

"Tommy, you're the bravest kid I know. You stood up to my Beast Spirit," Takuya said as he smiled, the pride clear in his tone. He was still in memory land.

"Could it be…?" Koichi muttered, making everyone look at him. "I think Takuya is reliving some of his memories from his first trip to the Digital World."

"But Taky went there for the first time when he met KuroPatamon four years ago, with me and Lopmon," Sarah said, "I've never heard of any 'Beast Spirit'." She looked at the two Rookies as she spoke, who shook their heads as a sign of not knowing what Takuya was talking about.

Tai opened his mouth to say that his team was in the Digital World four years ago, when Takuya caught everyone's attention. He was frowning as he spoke, and his face switched between confusion, annoyance and anger. "All right, so start talking."

_In his dream, Takuya was standing in a dark building that had little light. Not far in front of him was Koji. They both looked exactly the same as in real life, except Takuya was wearing his olive green cap backwards and had his goggles on it._

"_All right, so start talking," Takuya said annoyedly, glaring at the back of Koji's head._

"_Why do you think you're here, Takuya?" the raven-haired DigiDestined asked, not turning to face his somewhat rival. When Takuya didn't say anything, he softly demanded: "Answer me, I wanna know why you're here."_

"_Well, you know, we're here to save the world," Takuya said, a little taken aback by the question._

"_You sound like you don't know what it means, what's at stake. This isn't some video-game you can walk away from if things don't work out."_

"_I'm not stupid, you know. I know that."_

_Koji turned to face the goggle-head. "Sometimes I really don't think you do." They glared at each other as he went on: "There are no second chances for us here, get it? If we mess up here, it's over."_

"_Yeah, I know." Takuya sounded a little uncertain._

"_Then how can you stake our lives on some plan you only assume is going to work? We don't know anything about this guy!"_

_Now Takuya was starting to get annoyed again. "So, what? We'll all be safe if we run away?"_

"_No, I didn't say that!"_

"_Then what are you saying?!" Takuya demanded. Koji grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall._

"_Listen to me, Takuya! You weren't there when I crossed swords with him, okay?! I doubt he was using even half his strength against me! That whole battle, all he was going was playing with us!"_

_Takuya calmed a little. "Okay, maybe… But we're the good guys. There must be a way to win."_

"_He's too strong."_

By now Koji had figured out what Takuya was talking about, and explained to the others it was the argument they had over Duskmon. "I wonder why he's reliving it now?" KuroPatamon said.

"Yeah. This has never happened before," Sarah told.

"Momentai. I bet he'll wake up after it's over," Lopmon said to her friends cheerfully.

Everyone looked at Takuya as they heard him shout at top volume: "I know he's strong, but every time we've run into someone more powerful than us, we've worked together and everything has turned out fine! I really believe if we just attack as one, we can't lose!"

"Takuya, open your eyes," Koji muttered under his breath, although he meant it literally instead of figuratively like in the memory.

"_Open your own eyes! We're more powerful together than you think!"_

_Koji sighed and let go, turning around and then starting to slowly walk away. "Tell me something. It's obvious you don't care about yourself, but can you promise me that the others won't get hurt? Because if you can't, then you might as well go home now, because I won't let you risk their lives."_

_The scene changed, and Takuya was at Shibuya Station as rubble fell down and the station walls crumbled. People were running around, screaming._

_"Davis! Look out!" Takuya cried when he spotted the maroon-haired four-year-old._

_Davis was frightened out of his mind, crying for his parents and Jun, but none of them were in sight._

_"Takuya! Don't!" he heard Koji cry out._

_Takuya whirled around and looked his best friend in his dark blue eyes. Koji's ponytail had come undone and his trademark bandana had fallen out during their last struggle, so the raven hair flew around his sharp pleading features._

_"I've already lost Shinya, Koji." Takuya smiled sadly. "I'm not about to lose my cousins as well."_

_With that, he darted out of Koji's grasp and dived for Davis just as the ceiling above them caved in. He managed to push the two of them up against the closest wall, leaving them virtually unscathed. He could hear Koji and the others call out his name, but he was more concerned about Davis. The little boy clutched at his shirt as they huddled together._

_"Help!"_

_The Kanbara cousins looked up and around instantly, searching for Jun. Takuya spotted her cowering in a nearby doorway, an ideal spot to be when in a disaster situation like this one. He picked Davis up and darted over to her. Koji must have spotted them because he called out to Takuya again._

_"Takuya! Above you!"_

Takuya was shaking so badly during his reliving of the collapsing of Shibuya Station, Joe thought he'd better check his pulse. "His pulse is rapid and keeps accelerating. He must be very terrified," the young doctor stated.

"No wonder. I've suffered that nightmare a dozen times and it's the worst. Especially since everything in it is real," Davis said, crossing his arms and looking at his cousin worriedly. Takuya didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon.

"I've already lost Shinya, Koji. I'm not about to lose my cousins as well," he said with a sad smile. Ken and all the others felt touched by this, but Ken more than the others since he had lost a brother years ago.

"Okay, I can't just sit here and watch him suffer!" Sarah declared, clenching her fists.

"We can't do anything," Tai said, remembering Davis' second "episode" from about three weeks ago. He had been like Takuya was now, although it had been a little different for Davis since the Warrior of Steel had been mirroring Takuya's actions from when the Warrior of Flame had truly gone to the Digital World for the very first time. [To read about it, check ep. 4 of Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories.] Takuya was mostly still except for a few jolts and shakes.

"Don't you think we would've done something already if we could?" Koji said in annoyance. He and the other Warriors had heard of Davis' "episodes" and how the Odaiba DigiDestined had only been able to watch and wait for Davis to snap out of it.

"I can't just wait!" With that, Sarah grabbed the cocoa-haired boy and shook him roughly, ignoring the shouts that were coming from his mouth. "WAKE UP, TAKUYA! For Pete's sake _snap out of it_ already!"

When she got no reaction, Sarah raised her hand and gave Takuya a sharp slap on the cheek. The others, including Takuya, gasped.

The former leader of the Warrior DigiDestined sat up, his eyes losing their unfocused look. For a minute he looked like he didn't recognize Davis' bedroom. Then he remembered his brother and felt depressed. He put his head in his hands as he sat cross-legged on the bed with his elbows against his knees. "Shinya…"

Despite not knowing who her friend wasw talking about, Sarah bound her arms around her friend as KuroPatamon snuggled to his partner's shoulder and Lopmon wrapped his ears around the boy's leg. Despite the comfort, Takuya felt numb and his heart felt heavy.

"I think he needs some time alone," Ken said, a memory from last year flashing through his head. It was from when he had lost Wormmon thanks to his actions as the Digimon Emperor.

Koichi and some of the others nodded in agreement. So they all left, Sarah picking up both Lopmon and KuroPatamon. The latter felt like protesting, but one stern glance from Sarah quietened him.

Takuya was left in the room alone with his thoughts.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_Davis: Oh man, dreams sure can suck! Or in this case, memories. Will Takuya renew his friendship with the Warriors and regain his flame once again? Find out next time in Digimon, Digital Monsters!_

* * *

If you're wondering what I mean by 'regain his flame once again', check ep. 5-8. of Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories. Oh, and the memory bits and Davis' freaking out belong to Shara Raizel!

Enjoy!


	4. 28: New friends, old friends

**New friends, old friends**

By seven o'clock, all the Odaiba DigiDestined had gone apart from ken (who lived in Tamachi but was sleeping over at Davis'). The youngsters were busying themselves by cooking dinner for Davis and Jun's adoptive parents, Mel and Dan Motomiya. Tommy and Sarah had gotten the task of making sure the Digimon didn't break anything while they played.

"Heh. This reminds me of the time we were making hamburgers in hamburger village," JP said, frying small steaks.

"Yeah, I think I got that from Takuya's memories once," Davis mused. He chuckled. "He and you weren't very good cooks, Koji. According to Takuya, your burgers were absolutely horrible.

"No they weren't," Koji said, not turning to look at his close friend as he was busy chopping the onions. "Takuya was the one whose burgers weren't even edible."

"Tommy sure surprised everyone, though," Zoe said, rinsing the salad.

"What do you mean?" Ken asked as he passed a bowl to her.

"Young Tommy knew just as little about cooking as the rest of us, but he made the best burger with simple ingredients."

"Yeah, it was fun!" Tommy, who happened to peep in to see how everyone was doing, remarked.

A few of the Digimon rushed past him. "Yippee!" Koinumon yelled, sliding along a kitchen counter with SilverDemiVeemon and Flaremon., while the other In-Training Digimon and Lopmon were still keeping Sarah busy in one of the other rooms.

Koinumon and his two friends landed in the middle of the chopped onions. "Koinumon!" Koji exclaimed, cross with his partner.

"U-oh. Lets get outta here!" the wolf's head resembling Digimon said, bouncing off with the other two before his partner could catch them. Tommy, Koichi and Jun managed to catch the little fur balls, and Tommy carried them out of the kitchen, glad that it hadn't been his partner Kurimon causing the trouble considering how little patience Koji had with the Digimon Warrior of Ice anyway.

"Shouldn't you guys be going home?" Sarah asked a little later, popping her head in the kitchen.

"Not until we find out what's happened to Takuya," Zoe replied.

"He'll be fine," Sarah assured, adding under her breath: "I hope."

"And we need to know everything about him," Koichi said.

"You already know. He's a DigiDestined, we've been hanging around in the digital world over the past four years, and KuroPatamon is his partner."

"That's the problem. As far as we're concerned, Takuya is the Warrior of Flame and his partner is Flaremon, Davis said, deciding not to say anything about Takuya's soul residing within him. He couldn't hear his cousin's voice in his head anymore, and felt like he was going crazy. It was pretty ironic since Davis has said to Takuya recently that if he were to disappear from Davis' mind, the younger Kanbara would lose his sanity.

As soon as the cooking was done, the youngsters retreated back to the living room.

"Is Takuya going to come out at all?" Flaremon mutely asked Davis. The goggle-head didn't hear him.

Flaremon pushed Davis' hand with his nose, making the Warrior of Steel ask: "  
What's up, Flaremon?" The little Legendary Warrior kept mutely saying that he wanted to see Takuya and when will his partner come out, but Davis couldn't understand. "Uuh… guys? Flaremon keeps telling me something but I can't hear him."

"No wonder, the little guy's mute," Sarah said, scratching Flaremon behind his ears.

"But Davis should be able to hear him," Koichi told, wondering if his close friend's "episode" from earlier that evening had been caused by something happening to Takuya's spirit.

"Maybe Takuya knows," Tommy suggested.

"Well then, I'll ask him," Sarah decided. She got up from her seat beside Davis and Ken, and went to the door of Davis' bedroom. "Hey, Taky? You done moping around?"

No answer came. Sarah's eyebrow twitched. She knocked loudly. Still no answer.

Sarah was at the edge of losing her temper, but having a serene Digimon as a partner had helped her become less reckless, so she kept her calm. Well, as calm as Sarah can be. "Listen, Takuya! I'm gonna count to ten, and if you're not out of there by then, I'll kick this door open and drag you out, got it?"

Again, silence was her only answer. So she started counting: "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Sev–"

The door opened and Sarah now stood face to face with her oldest and closest friend. But there was something different about him. For one thing, he was wearing an old olive green cap and cracked goggles over it, both of which Sarah had never seen before. For another, he had a firery look in his hazel eyes, the look Sarah and last seen when Takuya had told him about a dream where he had fried an evil Digimon known as Duskmon. [Check ep. 12 of Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories]

"Takuya? Flaremon asked, skittering over and gazing up at the boy shyly.

"Hi, buddy! I guess I'm the only one who can hear ya now that Davis and I aren't all mixed up anymore," Takuya said, bending down to pick up his new partner. But no worries! You can come live with me and KuroPatamon. Hanks for looking after Flaremon for me Davis. I really owe ya one, cuz.

You-you're _really_ Takuya? Davis gasped.

Koji was looking at his "dead" best friend with wide eyes, sensing the red firery spirit that had been with Davis' was now in a different body. "You're him all right," the Warrior of Light said slowly, "You're Takuya."

"Well, who'd you expect Koji? Santa Claus?" the Warrior of Flame laughed.

Next thing he knew, he felt Zoe squeezing him in a tight hug. Poor Flaremon was being squashed between them.

I can't believe it's you! We've missed you so much! Sure hearing your voice through Davis was nice, but actually having you here is the greatest thing that's happened to us since the accident!" A tear of joy rolled down her cheek as the Warrior of Wind looked at Takuya with her green eyes.

"I'm glad to be here," the goggle-head said warmly.

"Takuya! Tommy yelled, ramming onto his long-lost friend just as Zoe had let him go. Takuya patted the younger boy's orange beret - wearing head.

"Hey there, buddy! You've grown! I like the new hat. It was a good gift, Z."

"You know I'm the one who gave it?" Zoe asked in surprise.

"Yup! I was there when Davis saw you during the last accident anniversary, in his mind," Takuya told. Then he nudged her teasingly. "Or did you already forget I was a spook of sorts?"

Takuya walked over to his other three old friends. "Guys, it's really great to see you. Thanks for looking out for Davis." Then he turned to his cousins and wrapped his arms around them in a group hug. "Jun… Davis… I'll stick with you two from now on and protect you no matter what. We're family, after all."

"Takuya…" Jun whispered with a small smile, her and her brother's eyes misting with tears of joy. They hugged him back before breaking free from the group hug.

Ken felt very happy for his best friend. He was holding Wormmon as he stood up and held a hand to the Warrior of Flame. "We haven't properly met. My name is Ken Ichijouji and this is my partner Wormmon. I'm the Child of Kindness."

"Nice to meet ya, buddy!" Takuya said cheerily, shaking hands with his younger cousin's best friend. His partner Digimon climbed onto his shoulders. "I'm Takuya Matsuda, the Warrior of Flame and Davis 'cousin. My partners are Flaremon and KuroPatamon. I bet we'll get along well."

The front door was opened and closed, and the Motomiya parents came in with grocery bags. Mel spotted the ten kids first. "Oh! If I had known you all were coming over, I would have brought takeaway. I'm afraid dinner is going to be pretty late."

"No need, Mum," Jun said, "We already handled the cooking."

"And by some miracle, Jun didn't burn anything for once," Davis joked, getting elbowed by Zoe and his sister as a result.

"And who are these two?" Dan asked, gesturing to Takuya and Sarah.

"Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Motomiya. I am Sarah Lee and my friend here is Takuya Matsuda. We met Davis and Jun and their friends today and Jun invited us to join their get-together," Sarah said smoothly. Zoe and Koji couldn't help feeling impressed. They had thought Sarah would blurt out that Takuya wanted to come see his cousins.

"That's nice. Are you staying over for dinner?" Mel said.

"Nah, my parents are probably wondering where I am by now," Takuya replied, holding his partners as if they were stuffed toys. He meant his adoptive parents, of course, since his real parents had died in the accident along with his brother, uncle and aunt.

"Yeah, we should get going," Sarah said with Lopmon frozen in her arms. "It was great meeting you guys. I'll e-mail you two alter today, okay, Davis and Jun?"

Davis simply nodded, while Jun replied with a smile: "Sure." She was wondering how Sarah was going to do that when she didn't know her e-mail address. Jun had forgot about her own and the other DigiDestineds' D-terminals.

"we have to get going too. Bye, Junie. See you tomorrow, Davis and Ken," Zoe said, giving the goggle-head a quick hug before all the guests save for Ken left the apartment.

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Zoe said suddenly when they were walking towards a bus stop to get to the train station.

"Yeah, Zo?" Takuya asked, wondering what got her so excited all of a sudden.

"Sarah, when you e-mail Davis and Jun, tell them that they gotta meet with me, Takuya, Koji, Koichi, Tommy and JP at Shibuya Park early tomorrow morning. We can have the whole gang together again! A proper reunion to celebrate, after eight years of not having Takuya around."

"What about Sarah and Ken?" Takuya asked. "Not that I don't want the reunion, I just think it's unfair on them."

"I'm fine with it," Sarah said as she grinned mischievously, hiding the feeling of being left out very well. "I can use the time to do some soccer practice, so I can outshine you again in the next match."

"Forget it! I don't plan on dropping my position as star player to you again," Takuya laughed, playfully punching her arm.

"We'll see…" Sarah teased. "Seriously, though. I'll drop the word for you, Z."

"Thanks," the Warrior of Wind said gratefully as they boarded the bus that had just arrived.

Takuya suddenly slapped his forehead. "Man, I forgot!"

"What is it now, Takuya?" Koji said annoyedly, but he was smiling. He was glad to have his best friend back.

"I just realised that Davis still has my digivice and D-terminal," Takuya complained, ignoring his and the others' partners giggling quietly.

"Don't you have another? One you use to digivolve KuroPatamon?" JP asked, his voice low enough to stop outsiders from hearing.

"No, I never had a digivice except my D-tector, a D3-T now. I wondered sometimes why, since Davis has hold onto it all these years and I hadn't a clue. Unless you count the part of me that was inside him, of course."

"Then how did you travel to the Digital World all the time?" Koji asked.

"Sarah has a digivice. All I had to do was hold her hand or something."

"No use complaining about your missing D3-T and D-terminal," Koichi said, "You can ask for them at the reunion."

"Oh, right," Takuya said, scratching his cheek with his index finger. Koji frowned. This was a clear sign that his best friend had no idea what Koichi was talking about.

"You forgot the reunion already?" the Warrior of Light asked with a raised eyebrow.

Takuya grinned sheepishly. "I have a lot in my mind at the moment," he protested. His friends just laughed, and he pretty soon joined them. It felt good to be together again.

To be continued…

* * *

Zoe: Oh my gosh! Takuya is alive! He better not get himself killed again. How will he reunion go? Check it out next time in Digimon, Digital Monsters!

* * *

Like I said before, don't bother trying to make heads or tails about the whole "Takuya isn't dead" thing.

PS. This fic is actually my version of the second half of Shara Raizel's Drowning Memories (which is yet to be published). Hence episode 1 being 25 and all the [references]. I hope you all, Shara Raizel especially, like how this is going so far. It's gonna take a pretty weird twist at some point (unless I forget what that twist was supposed to be).


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